Spring 2012 Course Syllabus
EEE 598 Advanced Photovoltaics
Course Description: There are fundamental bottlenecks for current photovoltaic technologies to
become a noticeable source of energy: material availability, energy input, cost, efficiency, and
even public acceptance of the unpredictable energy source. This course will explore some of
these bottlenecks and focus on potential solutions. Topics to be covered include: The grand
energy challenge. Different methods for solar energy utilization. Review of solar cell physics.
Wafer silicon photovoltaic technology. Survey of other photovoltaic technologies.
Optical/electrical loss mechanisms and remedies. Multijunction tandem cells and concentrating
systems. Efficiency limits. Resource limitations to terawatt photovoltaics. Potential Earthabundant materials for photovoltaics. Approaches to low-cost thin-film and 3-dimensional
photovoltaics. Terawatt low-cost wafer silicon photovoltaics. It is intended to expose students to
some of current focuses in photovoltaic research and commercialization.
Credit Hours: 3-0
Prerequisites: Entry-level course on photovoltaics such as EEE 498 Solar Energy or EEE 598
Solar Cells, or EEE 436 and consent of instructor
Class Time and Place: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:00 – 10:15 am, ECG G320
Instructor’s Contact Information:
Professor Meng Tao
Office: ERC Room 157
Extension: 5-9845
Email: meng.tao@asu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:30 am – noon. Please email or call if you need to see
me at other times.
Textbook:
Solar Cell Device Physics, by S. J. Fonash (2nd edition, Academic, 2010)
References:
Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy Utilization (Report of the Basic Energy Sciences
Workshop on Solar Energy Utilization, April 18-21, 2005, Department of Energy;
available at http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/reports/list.html)
Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells, by A. Goetzberger, J. Knobloch, and B. Voss (Wiley,
1998)
Third Generation Photovoltaics: Advanced Solar Energy Conversion, by M. A. Green
(Springer, 2006)
Solar Electricity, by T. Markvart (2nd edition, Wiley, 2000)
Alternative Energy Resources: The Quest for Sustainable Energy, by P. Kruger (Wiley,
2006)
Renewable Energy: Technology, Economics, and Environment, by M. Kaltschmitt, W.
Streicher, and A. Wiese (Springer, 2007)
Additional reading materials from the literature
Course Assignments: Homework, individual and team projects, a term paper, and an oral
presentation at the end of the semester. While discussions among students are encouraged, all
the assignments are required to be finished independently by each student.
Grading: There will be no mid-term or final exams. The final grade will be based on
homework, projects and term paper (including oral presentation):
Final Grade = 0.5×Homework/Project + 0.3×Term paper + 0.2×Oral presentation
Each homework problem will be worth 10 points, and each project will be worth 20 – 30 points
depending on the amount of work involved.
Penalty for Late Homework/Project/Term Paper:
All homework and projects are due every Thursday at 9:00 am before class. Anything turned in
after that will be considered at least one day late. 20% of the full points will be deducted for
each extra day past the due day.
Due Date for Term Paper: April 19, 2012